TMI Blog1961 (9) TMI 76X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of each case separately for the purpose of those appeals. The Committee built in 1945 what is known as the Central Municipal Market Lodi Colony. This Market has 32 shops, with residential flats on 28 of them. In April 1945, the Committee, in pursuance of a resolution passed by it, invited tenders from intending bidders for those shops and premises. On receipt of tenders, the highest bidders were allotted various shops on rents varying from Es. 135-8-0 to ₹ 520 per mensem. The allottees occupied the shops and the premises in accordance with the allotments made by the Committee and continued to pay the respective amounts, which may be characterised as rents, without prejudice to our decision on the question whether it was legally a rent', because as will presently appear, one of the controversies between the parties is whether it is 'rent' within the meaning of the Act. Towards the end of 1952, 30 of the occupants filed applications under s. 8 of the Act praying for the fixation of standard rent in respect of the premises in their respective occupation. The Committee raised a preliminary objection to the maintainability of the aforesaid applications on the ground t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ritten Kabuliyat from which the terms of the respective tenancies could lee be ascertained. It was also contended that the High Court was in error in relying upon the provisions of s. 47 of the Punjab Municipal Act which, it was contended, was subject to the provisions of the Act, in view of the overriding provisions of s. 38 of the Act. It was further contended that the definitions of landlord' [s. 2(c)], of 'premises'[s. 2(g)]. and of tenant' [s. 2 (j)] in the Act were comprehensive enough to take in the transactions between the appellants and the Committee. Reference was also made to s. 3 of the Act to show that a public body like the Committee was not intended to be excluded from the opt-ration of the Act. On the other hand, the learned Solicitor General, appearing for the Committee, contended that the essential element of 'letting' becomes apparent from the consideration of the provisions of the Act, with particular reference to the definitions of landlord', 'Premises' and 'tenant'. His contention was that the key word 'letting' should be equated with the creation of an interest in immovable property by a valid contract; h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eiver for any other person or who would so receive the rent or be entitled to;. receive the rent, if the premises were let to a tenant;... 'premises' .'moans any, building or Part of a buildings which is., or is intended' to be let separately for use as residence or for commercial use or for any other purpose, and includes- (i) the garden grounds and outhouses if any, appertaining to such building or part of a building ; (ii) any furniture supplied by the landlord for use in Such building or part of a building; but does not include a room in a, hotel or lodging house... 'tenant' means any person by whom or on whose account rent is payable for any premises and includes such sub-tenants and other persons as have derived title under a tenant under the provisions of any law before the commencement of this Act... . The argument is that the Act has been enacted ,to provide; for the control of rents and evictions' and that in making these provisions for safeguarding the interests of tenants under the Act the provisions of other enactments relating to the creation of the, relationship of landlord and tenant and regulating the incidence of tenancy ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... om a lessee, would come within the purview of the Act. In this con- nection reference was made to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, which contains the following words, inter alia, under the 'word let': to grant the temporary possession and use of in consideration of rent or hire R. 11.44 If this contention is correct, then there cannot be the, least doubt that a licensee would also come within the ambit of the Act. But we are not prepared to hold that the Act, by its terms, intended to be so comprehensive as to include within its sweep not only tenants properly so called, but also licensees. It is true that the dictionary meaning applies the, term letting' to inducting a tenant and deli- vering possession to him as such, of the premises for a consideration which can be characterized as rent', or a licensee who has been permitted to occupy the premises for a consideration which may be called 'hire', If the argument is correct, then a person hiring a room in a hotel as a licensee would also come -within the purview of the Act. But the Act, in terms, has excluded a room in a hotel or lodging house from the definition of 'premises'. It was also conten ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n has been satisfied in these cases. But we have to consider he provisions of s. 47 which have been very strongly relied upon on behalf of the Committee. The section is in these terms : 47. (1) Every contract made by or on behalf of the Committee of any municipality of the first class whereof the value or amount exceeds one hundred rupees,, and made by or on behalf of the Committee of any municipality of the second and third class whereof the value or amount exceeds fifty rupees shall be in writing, and must be signed by two members, of whom the president or a vice president shall be one, and countersigned by the secretary: Provided that, when the power of entering into any contract on behalf of the committee has been delegated under the last foregoing section, the signature or signatures of the member or members to whom the power has been delegated shall be sufficient. (2) Every transfer of immovable property belonging to any committee, must be made, by an instrument in writing, executed by the president or vice-president, and by at least two other members of committee whose executions thereof shall be attested by the secretary. (3) No contract or transfer of the desc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d that was a suit to obtain a lease from the grantor, the Corporation, that is to say, it was an action in equity, and the Court of Equity held, in the words of the Lord Chancellor, that at all events, a Court, of Equity could not allow the ejectment to proceed after the plaintiff had spent so much money on 'the wall . The decision was, therefore, explicitly based on. the doctrine of 'Standing by'. In that case there is no reference to any statute., the terms of which could said to have been infringed. In the second case [Deo V. Taniere (2)] again there was no question of the infringement of any. mandatory provision of a Parliamentary statute. That is the case of a grant of lease for 99 years, omitting a covenant to build. It was held, that whether the lease was only voidable, or void, receipt of rent without proof of any instrument under seal could raise a presumption of a demise from seal to year. It is thus clear that neither of those cases, strongly relied upon by the counsel for the appellant is an authority for the provisions that where the statue makes it obligatory that there should be a contract under seal, the absence of such a contract could be cured by mere ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re us, if we were to hold the defendants liable to pay for what has been done under the contract. we should in effect be repealing the Act of Parliament and depriving the ratepayers of that protection which Parliament intended to secure for them. It a pears that in England there is a distinction between contracts made under the Common Law by Municipal Corporations which may not be under seal, and contracts made by them in pursuance, of a statute like the one now under consideration. The following except from the Judgment of Brett, L. J., quoted in the judgment of Lord Blackburn, is instructive from this point of view: I should wish to say that I have come to the same conclusion after weeks spent in attempting to Come to another. However, I come to the same conclusion as Lord Justice Lindley and Lord Justice Cotton in this case, upon the ground that, although this was a municipal corporation, yet in the transaction in question, it was acting as a board of 'health, and that therefore it was bound by the statute, and that as to the construction of that statute we are bound by a former decision of this Court which held that the enactment as to the necessity for a seal is ma ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ore, no reliance was placed on behalf of the appellants on the provisions of s. 53A of the Transfer of Property Act. On the question of the validity of the transfer, it is necessary to consider the further argument raised on behalf of the appellants, namely,, that the power of the Committee is contained in s. 18 and not in s. 47 of the Municipal Act, which only lays down the mode of executing contracts and transfer of property, as appears from the marginal note to the section i. e., the words Mode of Executing Contract and Transfer of Property . It is true that s. 18 contains the power to enter into a contract and to transfer any property held by the Committee, but s. 47. lays down-the' essential conditions of the exercise of the Power and unless those conditions are fulfilled there could be no contract 'and no transfer of property. In this connection, it was further argued that sub s. (3) of s. 47 only says that a, contract or transfer of Property contemplated in the section executed otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the section shall not be binding on the Committee. Therefore, the argument further is that the contract may not be binding of it the Com ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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